Sir: Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, staring hard at camera, warned the country on Saturday that a ground offensive against Yugoslavia would require months of preparation (a curious description of the Rapid Reaction Force for which we have paid our taxes) and would result in heavy casualties on both sides. He clearly expects this to still the clamour for such an offensive.

Our governments past and present (Winston Churchill excepted) seem to have a predilection for underestimating the toughness of those they rule. During the Second World War the Ministry of Information was on tenterhooks lest the nerve of the people crack under heavy Nazi aerial bombardment. Subsequent inquiry has shown that the only sound of knees knocking together came from within the ministry itself.